The equivariant K-theory of a cohomogeneity-one action

Abstract: We compute the equivariant complex K-theory ring of a cohomogeneity-one action of a compact Lie group at the level of generators and relations and derive a characterization of K-theoretic equivariant formality for these actions. Less explicit expressions survive for a range of equivariant cohomology theories including Bredon cohomology and Borel complex cobordism. The proof accordingly involves elements of equivariant homotopy theory, representation theory, and Lie theory. Aside from analysis of maps of representation rings and heavy use of the structure theory of compact Lie groups, a more curious feature is the essential need for a basic structural fact about the Mayer--Vietoris sequence for any multiplicative cohomology theory which seems to be otherwise unremarked in the literature, and a similarly unrecognized basic lemma governing the equivariant cohomology of the orbit space of a finite group action.